Property market sizzles

The property market bounced back with secondary transactions soaring 41 percent week-on-week over the past weekend, and developers selling around 230 flats in new projects over the four-day holiday.

Centaline Property Agency reported 75 secondary deals at ten blue-chip housing estates over the past four days, among which 31 were recorded on the weekend, surging 41 percent from a week before and the highest in seven years.

T-Plus in Tuen Mun, which offers micro flats, recorded its first second-hand transaction. A vendor made a capital gain of around HK$433,000 after selling a 131-sq-ft studio at the project for HK$2.4 million, or HK$18,321 per sq ft, according to Midland Realty.

In the primary market, some 230 transactions were recorded over the holidays.

Meanwhile, Sun Hung Kai Properties (0016) raised the prices of 12 flats at St Martin Phase 1 in Tai Po by about 4 percent. The developer will launch 30 flats at the project for sale on Saturday (May 9).

And some major developers are expected to launch large residential projects in the near term.

CK Asset (1113) expects to launch Sea To Sky at Lohas Park, which provides 1,422 units, as early as in May, said William Kwok Tze-wai, a director of Cheung Kong Real Estate. It obtained presale consent for the project in January.

The developer previously also said phase one of No 21 Borrett Road in the Mid-Levels would hit the market at the end of the first quarter or in the second quarter. The project offers 115 flats.

In Tin Shui Wai, SHKP in February obtained presale consent for Wetland Seasons Park phase two, which provides 699 units, and deputy managing director Victor Lui said the project may hit the market as early as this month.

Property developers are adopting a wait-and-see approach and slowing down new launches as travel restrictions and a ban on large social gatherings have battered the housing market.

Sammy Po Siu-ming, chief executive of Midland Realty's residential division, believes developers will attract homebuyers with price cuts once the pandemic eases.

In the commercial property market, Midland IC&I (0459) recorded six transactions at 50 grade A office buildings last month, hitting a four-month high, but transactions have languished at a single-digit level for nine months now.